De Lima files plea vs FM burial in Libingan

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Leila de Lima joined yesterday the various pleas before the Supreme Court to prevent the interment of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Martial law victims and their supporters also trooped to Malacañang yesterday to ask President Duterte to scrap his plan to bury Marcos at the heroes’ cemetery.

De Lima, former chair of Commission on Human Rights, filed a last-minute petition supporting those filed by martial law victims earlier seeking to strike down orders of the Department of National Defense (DND) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for the burial of Marcos.

The senator, a vocal critic of Duterte, cited practically the same arguments raised in the six earlier petitions. She argued that the President did not have the “power to rewrite history” and make Marcos a hero.

She filed the petition on the eve of today’s oral arguments of the high court on the case. The groups who filed the earlier petitions said burying Marcos at the heroes’ cemetery would violate the country’s laws.

SC spokesman Theodore Te said the high court was unable to act on De Lima’s petition as it was filed in the afternoon or hours after the session of the justices. He said the SC might tackle the latest petition in the oral arguments.

Last week, the high tribunal issued a status quo ante order temporarily enjoining the DND and AFP from proceeding with the interment preparations pending resolution of the petitions.

Meanwhile, about 30 activists and human rights advocates brought with them a petition prepared by the Coalition Against the Marcos Burial in Libingan ng mga Bayani asking Duterte to “finally end all plans” of burying Marcos at the heroes’ cemetery.

They urged the late president’s family to bury him instead in Ilocos Norte.

“Given the gravity of Mr. Marcos’ crimes against the people and country, his burial at the Libingan will not heal or foster unity. It will invalidate all that many heroes have spent their lives fighting for,” the petition read.

Marie Jopson, one of the critics of the plan to give Marcos a hero’s burial, said they were still hopeful that Duterte would change his mind.

She said martial law victims were seeking a dialogue with the President so they could explain why they were against the burial.

Aida Santos, a torture victim during martial law, said more than 4,000 people have signed the petition against glorifying the late strongman.

“We are not here to fight… We are here to talk and to show that many understand how we feel. This is not a laughing matter, especially for the relatives of those who were killed, tortured or kidnapped,” Santos said.

Assistant Secretary Bebeth Somozo of the Office of the Cabinet Secretary received Jopson, Santos and four other companions at her office to discuss their concerns. It was not clear whether anything was agreed upon during the meeting.

The group, however, vowed to continue protesting against the plan to inter Marcos at the heroes’ cemetery.